Purpose of Tongue Twisters

The purpose of Tongue Twisters is to speak the English language to perfection. The subtle changes in the spellings make the words mean different, look different, and definitely pronounced different.

“Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers…”

“She picked sea shells on the sea shore…”

“Bubble bobble, bubble bobble, bubble bobble”

Above are just some of the tongue twisters that kids love to say and say and say over and over again.

Tongue twisters are fun to say and sometimes the tongue gets so twisted that the mind skips and then you laugh and then you try again and again.

The point of tongue twisters is to practice the mind and the tongue to make them coordinated and to make it stretch just like a muscle, but a mental kind of muscle.

Some may say that it is all just a stupid type of learning; these comments come from those who do not understand the English language and those who are not willing to speak it well.

Purpose of Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are a good way to perfect the pronunciations of words, just like nursery rhymes that children have to listen to for several years. The nursery rhymes actually make the mind and the tongue stretches them to the limit, literally stretching the muscles of the tongue.

These tongue twisters were invented by some enterprising scholars and parents whose kids could not make distinctions between one word and the next because of one single letter that either changed position in the word or was changed into another.

There are even speech teachers who demand that their students get into the act of reciting the tongue twisters for an hour long speech class. They say that the end result is always the same: hard tongues soften and soft tongues harden, depending on the words.

Try to go and look for tongue twisters in books, even online, and take these down or simply print them. If you are interested in refining your tongue’s fine motor skills (so to speak), get into the habit of learning and reciting tongue twisters. Eventually, not only will your mind be able to immediately grasp differences in the subtle changes of spellings, but your tongue will follow the dictates of your brain and what will come out is a perfectly pronounced word without having to waste precious seconds to form the word right.

Most challenging tasks

Tongue Twisters are one of the most challenging tasks ever, relying on saying loudly and distinctly complicated and hard to speak words and sentences. Its aim is to practice English pronunciation to perfection. If you want to practice English language, definitely you should try to find some of them and try out. The example:

“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood
As a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood”

The phrases mentioned above are just some fine examples of the tongue twisters that especially kids love to repeat many, many times just for fun. It can be hard for you from the beginning to repeat all of them in a correct way, but again – practice makes master. Definitely, tongue twisters are very fun to say, when you speak, your tongue gets so twisted that you usually stop for a moment, your mind skips and you laugh, but very important is to try again and again, till you reach the point of perfection.

Point of tongue twisters

Aim of the practicing tongue twisters is to practice your mind and your tongue – to make them coordinated and stretched like muscles during physical activities, however this way you put some mental effort instead of physical one. Some people would mind practising them a bit childish and as a stupid way of learning, but these opinions and comments belong to people, who barely can pronounce appropriately these phrases or they are not able to do it at all, or – they do not understand English and the point how important is to pronounce especially difficult words in correct way and usually they are not willing to speak English fluently and well.

Well, let us leave their opinions and consider rather how we can master our language skills and abilities instead of trying to leave this nice and funny idea. Many tongue twisters make you speak distinctly, paying attention to details while talking in different language and being understandable for your partner in conversation. Many of them sounds like a poem – they have their rhythms and very often this is a cause for making your mind and the tongue stretched to the limit.

Who invented tongue twisters?

Not easy to speak tongue twisters were invented by some enterprising scholars and parents of those kids, whose could not make distinction between one word and another, usually because of one single letter that changed its position in various words or was changed for another, but was heard as quite similar sound. I am sure you know plenty of such consonants in Polish language – we can mention, for example, “t” and “d”, “sz” and “s”, “l” and “r” – especially the last pair is famous for equivalent of tongue twisters in Polish: “Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego”.

Do you remember when you were practising this short sentence at your school and your home when you were a little kid? English tongue twisters work exactly same way. By training your mind and your tongue muscle for an hour a day you can reach your English learning goals – speak clearly, distinctly, but also you will understand other people with natural ease.

The final result of practising these tongue twisters is always the same – hard tongues soften and soft tongues hardens, depending on the words you say. In the end you will be able to speak in different language with ease, like you were born a native speaker.

Where can you find some examples of these tongue twisters?

You can find many of the tongue twisters in the Internet and books. When you find them, the best idea is to print them out, then stick in a such place in your room where they will catch your attention from the early morning. This practice allows you to keep your goals in mind for all day.

Remember, that the more you practise, the better you do – so everyday try to find some time to practice these fine tongue twisters. And with time you will see how fast and fluently you can talk in English with everyone. If you are really motivated and interested in refining your tongue’s fine motor skills (so to speak), get into the good habit of learning and reciting these special, according to your personal choice, tongue twisters every day.

Eventually, not only your mind will be able to immediately grasp differences in the subtle changes of spellings, but your tongue will follow the thoughts and impulses of your brain and eventually whatever will come out from your mouth will be a perfectly pronounced (even extremely difficult and long) word without you having to waste precious seconds to form the word right anew, especially during the conversation with another person. Try to find regular time during your daily routine and for real – make it your good habit. It will pay for you with time and in nick of time you will convince yourself that this works when you do a good job.